Jen and I have been attending Dave Ramsey's "Financial Peace University (FPU)" to help us get control of our spending habits. I can honestly say that for most if not all of our married life we have never set up a budget. We seemed to always have enough to cover our needs...enough if you count borrowing from savings.
Since I have become a teacher we need to be much more careful with our money and have had some difficulty with it. This month we went on a "zero sum budget". This means that before the month begins (we go from the 25th to the 25th because of my pay) we set up a budget where we allocate my entire paycheck to the needs of the household. To help us keep on this budget FPU recommends that you spend as much of your budgeted expenditures using cash, rather than a debit or check card. Credit Cards are a no-no.
Last night Jen and I were out buying dog food and items for Ky's birthday party today. Most of the purchases were done with cash, and each time we dug in for cash I just felt like things came to a stop and eyes were on us. Kind of like this commercial for visa.
It was actually very surreal and irritating. Using plastic has become so accepted and "vital" to our speed centric economy that, at least for me, the use of cash seems so archaic. By the way I can attest that it is easier to part with plastic money than paper money. You think about your spending more when you pay with cash rather than just swiping the card.
